This blog is a place to discuss the planning, construction, failure, and rebuilding of the first American lighthouse erected at the Mouth of the Mississippi River.

Mississippi River Lighthouse - Frank's Island, Louisiana - 1820

Architectural Drawing by Henry Latrobe - 1817 - National Archives

A Brief History of the Frank's Island Lighthouse

In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson, having recently purchased the Louisiana Territory, envisioned a grand monument to serve as a navigational beacon to mark the entrance of the mighty Mississippi River. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the renowned architect and engineer, was selected to design such a lighthouse. On paper, Latrobe’s “Lighthouse at the Mouth of the Mississippi River” was magnificent! The building materials consisted of brick, marble, and other stone; but the foundation of this heavy structure would have to be laid upon the soft clay that lines the entrances of the Mississippi River.

The site chosen for the lighthouse was a small island located north of the Northeast Pass of the Mississippi River called Frank’s Island. Although engineers determined the soil of the island to be adequate for the structure, no contractor at the time was willing to undertake such a foreboding task. After some prodding, the designer of American lighthouse reflector systems of the day, Winslow Lewis, finally accepted the challenge; but only under certain contractual terms – Congress agreed that he would be paid in full should the structure’s foundation fail. Finally, in 1818, construction on the lighthouse began.

In March of 1820, just days before the lighthouse was to be completed, the foundation settled and cracks began to form throughout the structure. The internal arches could no longer support the massive weight of the stone parapet. The columns fell to the ground and the walls of the Keepers Quarters collapsed. Without any support at its base, the lighthouse tower began to list. Deemed too costly to repair, the lackluster remains of what was to have been a magnificent structure were abandoned.

After spending over $85,500, a tidy sum in those days, and with no lighthouse to mark the entrance of the Mississippi River, Congress once again turned to Winslow Lewis, who made an offer they could not refuse. For just under $10,000, Lewis offered to build a second lighthouse on Frank’s Island and guarantee its foundation. On March 20, 1823, the lantern was lighted for the first time at the Northeast Pass Lighthouse. Lewis’ lighthouse served as a working navigational beacon until 1856. Over time, the lantern gallery was destroyed and the tower was in disrepair. By the 1950’s Frank’s Island itself eroded away and the lantern-less tower stood alone in the waters of Blind Bay. In 2002, encroached by the powers of a hurricane, the ruins of the second lighthouse fell over into the water. Unless the tides are extremely low, no sign of either lighthouse erected on Frank’s Island remains today…

Frank's Island Lighthouse - 1823

Friday, December 17, 2010

I just found out that a piece of Frank's Island Lighthouse history was up for auction last month. A leather bound ledger book containing the signature of Benjamin Beal, one of Winslow Lewis' sub-contractors, was put up for auction by a New Orleans-based auction house. The contents of this ledger contained lists of workers, organized by month, from April 1818 to April 1823, indicating the days worked per month for each worker. As a ledger, this book does not seem to contain any significantly historal information, such as a description of the first lighthouse's collapse or a drawing of the second lighthouse. There are, however, some interesting nuggets of information listed in the auction description that give a glimpse into life on Frank's Island while the lighthouses were being constructed.

According to the auction listing, the opening bid for the ledger was $400 and the auction house informs me that it sold for $800. From a research perspective, I am not certain this book contains any information that would help clarify the cloudy mystery surrounding the Frank's Island Lighthouses. I am amazed that any kind of written record that was present on Frank's Island during the construction of the lighthouses exists today! Deep down, the finding of this ledger's existence gives me hope that a personal journal from someone who spent time on Frank's Island, or letters between the sub-contractors and Winslow Lewis, will turn up during my lifetime...

Here is the description of the ledger from the auction listing:

Frank Island Lighthouse*, An Account of the Time Building the Light House on Frank Island, New Orleans, ledger with watermarked, laid paper, three quarter leather boards, manuscript entries, one month per page, covering the period from March 1, 1818 through April 17, 1823, the front paste down signed "Benjamin Beal, Hingham, 1818", each page noting the days worked by each worker, with various notes scattered throughout including; "cutting wood up the river", "stole a boat and absconded".

Here is a link to the listing containing some pictures of the ledger book...

The Frank's Island Lighthouse Blog...

It may seem strange to create a blog about a two-hundred-year-old lighthouse that no longer exists. Having grown up in South Louisiana and attending elementary school at Promised Land Academy in Plaquemines Parish, about sixty miles north of Blind Bay, I was surprised to discover the history of the lighthouses erected on Frank’s Island. My quest for information about the Frank’s Island Lighthouse began as an endeavor to know more about early Louisiana lighthouses. The only pictures I could find of the Frank's Island Lighthouse were either early crude drawings, or photographs that showed the tower in ruins. What little history I was able to read about Frank’s Island indicated there were two lighthouses erected on the island – one that collapsed almost as soon as it was built, and one that stood for one-hundred seventy-nine years.

As I delved deeper into the history of the Frank’s Island lighthouses, questions began to form. In my endeavor to answer these questions, I discovered that a lot of the information I had read before was not consistent with the source documentation stored at the National Archives.

The story behind the original lighthouse erected at Frank’s Island is complex and intriguing. It tells a tale of engineering and folly, of competence and craftiness, of hard work and deception. It is a story in which the nice guy did not finish last... In fact, he did not finish at all. Instead, another surfaced to become the Premier Builder of American Lighthouses.

The purpose of this blog is to present and discuss the history of the Frank’s Island Lighthouse in a manner consistent with and supported by historical fact. Unfortunately, historical fact on this matter is scarce. Hopefully, a collective effort in locating such facts and presenting them in this forum will yield the true history behind the Frank’s Island Lighthouse.

I will do my best to organize the topics in a manner to promote discussion. I will open each topic heading with a brief history of the facts as I know them to be. From there, we can discuss these facts and their impact to the overall story. All I would ask is that we attempt to support our discussion with factual data and provide sources for our facts. I hope this turns out to be an enjoyable and enlightening journey into the past.